Yardbarker: Christian Joneshttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/players/christian_jones/241486
Recent articles about Christian Jonesen-usSeniors star on Senior night, UNLV holds off Utah St, 66-59 LAS VEGAS (AP) Three seniors, Tyrell Green, Christian Jones and Uche Ofoegbu were feted before the game, then stepped up to spark UNLV to a 66-59 Mountain West Conference victory over Utah State in the Runnin' Rebels home finale Wednesday night. Green, from Toronto, Ontario, posted 19 points and grabbed dozen rebounds. Jones scored 16 points with 12 boards and Ofoegbu added 11 points. Utah State got within a point with 1:30 left when Koby McEwen hit a pair of free throws to make it 60-59. Jovan Mooring converted three free throws and knocked down a 3-pointer to put the game away. Jalen Moore had 14 points to lead Utah State Both teams advance to the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. UNLV (11-19, 4-13) closes out its regular season at Fresno State Saturday. The regular season is over for Utah State (13-16, 7-11) and the Aggies await the conference tournament.02 Mar 2017 03:39:19 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/seniors_star_on_senior_night_unlv_holds_off_utah_st_66_59/s1_13180_23358592
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/seniors_star_on_senior_night_unlv_holds_off_utah_st_66_59/s1_13180_23358592Seniors star on Senior night, UNLV holds off Utah St, 66-59http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/seniors_star_on_senior_night_unlv_holds_off_utah_st_66_59/s1_13180_23358592http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngAM Rumble: Duval’s recruitment, Villanova arena improvementsPlus: Christian Jones finding a comfort zone; Baylor struggling with compliance; St. John’s as a sleeper; an NCAA rules fail? Could St. John’s be a sleeper in the Big East? Our friend (and first guest if the Rumble podcast) Joseph Nardone thinks so.
All the unknowns, variables, and negatives are very real, which puts the Red Storm in a position of dealing with tempered — if not low — expectations. That remains true, but so too does the potential for them to become something special.
It is expected to happen at some point. Whether or not that happens this season remains to be seen, but don’t sleep on this sleeping giant, because who knows — maybe this is the year the giant actually hears the alarm go off.
Villanova is making moves to renovate the on-campus Pavilion. Why?
The 6,500-seat venue is more of a super-sized YMCA rather than a state-of-the art arena. There are sparse concession stands and restrooms and no true suites and other high-end amenities. Courtside seats are filled with 05 Oct 2016 11:44:12 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/am_rumble_duvals_recruitment_villanova_arena_improvements/s1_14617_22038109
http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/am_rumble_duvals_recruitment_villanova_arena_improvements/s1_14617_22038109AM Rumble: Duval’s recruitment, Villanova arena improvementshttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/am_rumble_duvals_recruitment_villanova_arena_improvements/s1_14617_22038109http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngSt. John’s roster losing last remnants of Steve Lavin eraThe St. John’s roster makeover won’t just include incoming recruits. The final holdovers of the Steve Lavin era are expected to be gone, too. Sophomore forward Amar Alibegovic will transfer, the school announced on Tuesday, and junior forward Christian Jones may follow, a source told The Post. The Red Storm are expected to fill those spots...29 Mar 2016 16:13:23 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/st_johns_roster_losing_last_remnants_of_steve_lavin_era/s1_13240_20578252
http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/st_johns_roster_losing_last_remnants_of_steve_lavin_era/s1_13240_20578252St. John’s roster losing last remnants of Steve Lavin erahttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_johns_roster_losing_last_remnants_of_steve_lavin_era/s1_13240_20578252http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngMarquette holds off St. John's 101-93 in Big East Tournament NEW YORK (AP) Henry Ellenson had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Jajuan Johnson scored 23 points and Marquette held off a furious rally by feisty St. John's for a 101-93 victory Wednesday night in the Big East Tournament. Haanif Cheatham added 19 points for the seventh-seeded Golden Eagles (20-12). They advanced to play fifth-ranked and second-seeded Xavier in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Facing a last-place team that managed only one conference victory all season, Marquette built a 17-point lead midway through the second half but then briefly fell behind in the final minutes. Ellenson and his teammates made just enough plays down the stretch to avoid an upset that would have all but ended any flickering hopes they have of an NCAA bid. Christian Jones scored a career-high 29 points for the 10th-seeded Red Storm (8-24). They dropped 21 of their final 22 games in former star Chris Mullin's first season as coach.10 Mar 2016 00:21:31 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/marquette_holds_off_st_john_39s_101_93_in_big_east_tournament/s1_13180_20460475
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/marquette_holds_off_st_john_39s_101_93_in_big_east_tournament/s1_13180_20460475Marquette holds off St. John's 101-93 in Big East Tournamenthttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/marquette_holds_off_st_john_39s_101_93_in_big_east_tournament/s1_13180_20460475http://www.yardbarker.com/media/0/2/02eea9480af963644c03826d57c75f1a98d18aa0/top_story/9067947.jpgSt John's beats Niagara 48-44 in 100th meeting NEW YORK (AP) Federico Mussini scored 11 points and Christian Jones added 10 points to help St. John's beat Niagara 48-44 on Wednesday night in the 100th all-time meeting. St. John's had a 38-26 lead early in the second half but went scoreless for seven-plus minutes. The Purple Eagles rallied to 43-37 with 3:39 remaining after Emile Blackman scored seven straight Niagara points. Niagara twice pulled within three points with under two minutes to play, but Christian Jones made two free throws with 33 seconds left and Ron Mvouika hit 1 of 2 for a two-possession game with 13 seconds remaining. Kassoum Yakwe had five points, five rebounds and five blocks for St. John's (5-3). The Red Storm were held to 19-of-57 shooting (33 percent), including 3 of 17 from 3-point range. Matt Scott had 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Niagara (3-6). Blackman added 16 points.09 Dec 2015 19:45:28 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_beats_niagara_48_44_in_100th_meeting/s1_13180_20024026
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_beats_niagara_48_44_in_100th_meeting/s1_13180_20024026St John's beats Niagara 48-44 in 100th meetinghttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_beats_niagara_48_44_in_100th_meeting/s1_13180_20024026http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngSt. John's beats St. Francis Brooklyn 63-56 NEW YORK (AP) Durand Johnson scored 19 points, Yankuba Sima had 17 and St. John's hung on for a 63-56 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday in the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival. Johnson scored six of St. John's final eight points, including four in the last 30 seconds, to hold off the Terriers, who had closed within 57-55 with 1:03 to play on a layup by Yunus Hopkinson. Johnson hit a baseline jumper as the shot clock expired to put the Red Storm up 59-55 with 30 seconds to go, and after Hopkinson made one of two free throws, he converted both ends of a 1-and-1 for a six-point lead. It was the first game as a coach at Madison Square Garden for Chris Mullin, whose first game as a player here was in the Holiday Festival in 1981. He was voted Most Valuable Player of that tournament. Sima had 10 rebounds and Christian Jones added nine for the Red Storm (5-3), who finished with a 45-33 advantage on the boards. Hopkinson and Antonio Jenifer both had 10 points to lead St. Francis (3-5), who had 06 Dec 2015 13:30:31 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_beats_st_francis_brooklyn_63_56/s1_13180_20005108
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_beats_st_francis_brooklyn_63_56/s1_13180_20005108St. John's beats St. Francis Brooklyn 63-56http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_beats_st_francis_brooklyn_63_56/s1_13180_20005108http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngFordham beats St. John's 73-57 for 5th straight win NEW YORK (AP) Ryan Rhoomes had a career-high 26 points and a season-high 12 rebounds to lead Fordham to a 73-57 victory over St. John's on Wednesday night to extend their winning streak to five games. The Rams (5-1), using a variety of defenses and took control early with pressure on the guards, forcing turnovers and leading to some easy points. Mandell Thomas and Jon Severe had 14 points each for the Rams, who led 41-25 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half. Felix Balamou led the Red Storm (4-3) with 14 points and Christian Jones had 11. This was a matchup between teams picked to finish last in their respective conferences. Fordham, of the Atlantic 10, had been compiling some impressive numbers against a less-than-spectacular early schedule but the Rams came close to matching them against a Big East team. They scored seven points below their average and shot 44.8 percent (26 of 58), not far off the 50 percent they were shooting entering the game. The Rams led 19-17 when they took 02 Dec 2015 21:30:34 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/fordham_beats_st_john_39s_73_57_for_5th_straight_win/s1_13180_19987192
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/fordham_beats_st_john_39s_73_57_for_5th_straight_win/s1_13180_19987192Fordham beats St. John's 73-57 for 5th straight winhttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/fordham_beats_st_john_39s_73_57_for_5th_straight_win/s1_13180_19987192http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngSt. John's get lone win in Maui, 100-93 over Chaminade LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) Freshman Federico Mussini scored a season-high 24 points and junior forward Christian Jones had career highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds to help St. John's beat Chaminade 100-93 on Wednesday in the seventh-place game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Red Storm (4-2) had struggled with their shooting all season but not against the Division II host school. Entering the game shooting 39 percent from the field and 34 percent on 3s, the Red Storm blew those numbers away: 59.3 percent from the field (35 of 59) and 52.6 percent on 3s (10 of 19). Durand Johnson had 18 points for St. John's, which lost to No. 19 Vanderbilt and No. 13 Indiana in the tournament, while Amar Alibegovic had 17, Rom Mvouika 12 and Yankuba Sima 10. Six players accounted for all but two of the 100 points. Kiran Shastri had 19 points for the Silverswords (0-5). Kevin Hu added 17 and Sam Daly and James Harper had 15 each. St. John's had a first half most teams can only dream about. The Red Storm led 59-42 after 25 Nov 2015 16:50:04 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_get_lone_win_in_maui_100_93_over_chaminade/s1_13180_19951699
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_get_lone_win_in_maui_100_93_over_chaminade/s1_13180_19951699St. John's get lone win in Maui, 100-93 over Chaminadehttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_get_lone_win_in_maui_100_93_over_chaminade/s1_13180_19951699http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngSt. John's rallies back from 16 down to beat 'out-hearted' RutgersIt's totally illogical how St. John's could shoot 32.3 percent from the field and make only 13 of 24 foul shots yet come from 16 points down in the second half to pull out a 61-59 win over Rutgers in front of a roaring crowd of 4,540 Thursday night at Carnesecca Arena. But frustrated Scarlet Knights coach Eddie Jordan had an answer."I told my team they 'out-hearted' us," Jordan said. "I've never used that term in my coaching career, but I'm using it tonight." And Jordan had good reason to fume. It took a big effort for St. John's (3-0) to overcome a 45-29 lead by Rutgers (2-1). The Red Storm didn't score its first point of the second half until 16:20 remained and didn't make its first field goal of the half until Felix Balamou hit a layup at the 13:53 mark. That Balamou was playing at all was a plus for the Red Storm after he missed the first two games of the season because of an NCAA eligibility issue. He came off the bench to score eight points, grab 11 rebounds, dish out 20 Nov 2015 07:42:00 -0500http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/st_john_39s_rallies_back_from_16_down_to_beat_39out_hearted_39_rutgers/s1_8331_19920337
http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/st_john_39s_rallies_back_from_16_down_to_beat_39out_hearted_39_rutgers/s1_8331_19920337St. John's rallies back from 16 down to beat 'out-hearted' Rutgershttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_rallies_back_from_16_down_to_beat_39out_hearted_39_rutgers/s1_8331_19920337http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngSt. John's rallies from 16-down, beats Rutgers 61-59 NEW YORK (AP) Federico Mussini and Yankuba Sima scored 13 points each and St. John's recovered from a 16-point, second-half deficit to beat Rutgers 61-59 on Thursday night. The Red Storm trailed 45-29 with 14:04 left but rallied and improved to 3-0 under first-year head coach Chris Mullin. Ron Mvouika added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mussini's free throws tied it 58-all with 2:31 left, and Mvouika's free throws gave them a 60-59 lead with 1:18 left. Rutgers (2-1) had possession in the final 15.9 seconds, still trailing by 1. But Bishop Daniels lost control near midcourt after getting bumped by Felix Balamou. Rutgers' Corey Sanders recovered but tripped and turned it over to Christian Jones, who drew the foul. Jones made 1 of 2 free throws. Daniels made a 3-pointer that was waived for coming after the buzzer. Daniels had 21 points and Mike Williams added 13.19 Nov 2015 22:12:31 -0500http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_rallies_from_16_down_beats_rutgers_61_59/s1_13180_19919218
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_rallies_from_16_down_beats_rutgers_61_59/s1_13180_19919218St. John's rallies from 16-down, beats Rutgers 61-59http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_rallies_from_16_down_beats_rutgers_61_59/s1_13180_19919218http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngWATCH: Highlights from St. John's 64-46 exhibition win over Sonoma State 46St. John's bounced back from an embarrassing loss in its first preseason game to defeat Sonoma State (California), 64-46, on Saturday night at Carnesecca Arena.Freshman forward Yankuba Sima led the Johnnies with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Christian Jones recorded 13 points and 11 boards for the second straight game."I thought we had two really good practices that were very intense. One focused on defense, one focused on offense and the carryover was there," St. John's head coach Chris Mullin said after the game. "I am pleased with how we bounced back. We put good work in [practice] and were able to transfer some of that into a game situation."On Wednesday, the Red Storm lost to St. Thomas Aquanis, a Division II school from Sparkill, New York, by 32 points.St. John's opens the regular season on Friday against Wagner on Friday.07 Nov 2015 22:30:52 -0500http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/watch_highlights_from_st_john_39s_64_46_exhibition_win_over_sonoma_state_46/s1_8864_19849777
http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/watch_highlights_from_st_john_39s_64_46_exhibition_win_over_sonoma_state_46/s1_8864_19849777WATCH: Highlights from St. John's 64-46 exhibition win over Sonoma State 46http://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/watch_highlights_from_st_john_39s_64_46_exhibition_win_over_sonoma_state_46/s1_8864_19849777http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngSt. John's loses by 32 to Division II teamA 32-point loss to a Division II opponent wasn’t expected to be part of St. John’s rebuilding plan in the first year of the Chris Mullin era.But on Wednesday night, St. Thomas Aquinas College, located Sparkill, New York, thoroughly dominated from start to finish, defeating the Red Storm, 90-58, inside Carnesecca Arena.St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Tobin Anderson, a former assistant at Siena, returned five of his top seven scorers from a team that won 21 games last season. St. Thomas Aquinas is accustomed to playing Division I opponents. The Spartans held a late first-half lead in an exhibition game against St. John’s last season. Two weeks later, Gonzaga handed them a 55-point loss.With an opportunity against a vulnerable Division I opponent, one located 32 miles away from their campus, the Spartans pounced, forcing 27 turnovers which resulted in 32 fast break points.Justin Reyes led the way with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Chaz Watler, the team’s top scorer from a season ago, added 18.Freshman Federico 04 Nov 2015 23:05:45 -0500http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/st_john_39s_loses_by_32_to_division_ii_team/s1_8864_19834147
http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/st_john_39s_loses_by_32_to_division_ii_team/s1_8864_19834147St. John's loses by 32 to Division II teamhttp://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/st_john_39s_loses_by_32_to_division_ii_team/s1_8864_19834147http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png